


The Little Decapod (english version)

by h_Magnus



Category: Moana (2016)
Genre: Action/Adventure, First Time, Human!Tamatoa, M/M, Mauatoa - Freeform, Romance, crab!Maui
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-11-05
Packaged: 2019-06-11 00:13:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15303186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/h_Magnus/pseuds/h_Magnus
Summary: A story based on Disney's "The Little Mermaid", where the Head of Lalotai Council's grandson falls in love with a courageous human world hero named Maui. Will a demigod and a creature from the Realm of Monsters find a way to be together? To be with his human, Tamatoa makes a deal with a sea witch, but the result fails his expectations.





	1. in which Tamatoa finds a human and decides to keep him.

**Author's Note:**

> English is not my native language. I am translating the fic I wrote in Russian, so I'm sorry for the mistakes you'll probably find. I did my best. But one can never become a good translator without practice! Anyway, feel free to inform me if something sounds weird to you.  
> \- There is a number of original characters in the fic. Some of them are monsters who look like sea creatures. Just remember that the fic is actually written based on a cartoon, so don't get surprised when reading about a jellyfish who has eyes or a ray who can talk). 
> 
> \- Real coconut crabs can't breathe underwater, but in this fic, Tamatoa can do it.

“Tamatoa! Tamatoa!” Rongonui maneuvered his way through the crowd looking into the faces of monsters.

Though the ray understood the pointlessness of his actions – had the decapod been here, Rongonui would have surely noticed. The crab was always the shiniest spot in any surroundings. Huatau was going to be  _so_ disappointed. Again.    

Rongonui swam around a rock, passing by a group of land tortoises in air bubbles busy tuning up their instruments. Today was the first day of Lalotai’s Annual Music Festival. The Underworld was divided into two areas – the sea and the land, and this year the festival was hosted by the oceanic part of the Realm of Monsters. Those participants who were unable to breath underwater used special air bubbles created by the Council of Lalotai. The bubbles were originally created for emergencies but were now daily used for communication between the two worlds and for monsters to simply hang out in the neighborhood. 

Rongonui was the one in charge for the festival organization. Huatau was the head of the Council and the founder of the event, and the ray acted directly under her orders. This is why _everything_ should have gone perfectly smoothly. Rongonui headed to the central field of the festival. Giant corals and colourful sea flowers, surrounding the spacious clearance, were making a truly magnificent background. In several corners of the stage there were specular installations that were reflecting hundreds of golden light beams fancily around the place. The view was going to be breathtaking. Well, at least here everything was in order.

Rongonui noticed something that looked like a giant crab claw covered in fluorescent paint and shiny crystals. The next second it disappeared behind one of the corals.

“Tamatoa!” the ray called out, rushing towards the crab. “Finally! Where have you-” Rongonui didn’t finish the sentence as he reached the coral and found that the claw belonged to Huatau.

“You’ve lost my grandson – again?” there was a slight irritation in Huatau’s voice.

Her enormous body was almost entirely covered in sparkling crystals reflecting the lights even more spectacularly than the specular installations. The love for shiny thingies was characteristic for all the coconut crabs, but Rongonui was convinced that Huatau and her grandson took the cake.

“It’s hard to keep track of him on a normal day,” the ray was looking the other way because looking at Huatau directly hurt his eyes. “And especially when it’s a festival day.”

Huatau frowned.

“Just find him. Tama must become _a star_ among the debutants.”

The ray opened his mouth to answer something, but she turned and went away, leaving him to cope with the problem on his own. Rongonui felt an electric wave running through his body and counted to ten to calm down. He didn’t want to kill some guest with a shock wave. But there was a crab who definitely needed a little flashover in nurturing purposes.

 

* * *

 

Tamatoa was sauntering around the shore, carefully sorting the shells and stones he was picking up on his way. The sun was setting down, colouring the sky in bright flamy hues that were fading into deep azure at the top of the sky. A view that couldn't be found in the Underworld. It was time to go back. If grandma decided to look for him before the festival, Tamatoa'd get into a big trouble.

The crab heaved a sigh and turned away from the quarter he’d spotted – so many things to explore! – and plodded to the ocean.  He was just about to go into the water when he saw something flash at the corner of his eye. He hesitated for a moment an then, deciding that a few more minutes wouldn’t make a big deal, turned to the glittery thing. It was a little stone of exotic shape that was gleaming in several colours – just like the sunset sky above the island. This was probably the most fascinating thing that he had ever seen.

But before the crab could touch the thing he heard a strange noise coming from the depth of the island. The noise was getting louder quickly and the source was clearly getting closer to the shore. It was like some beast’s roaring, and also the sound of trees falling.

Tamatoa hurried to pick up the stone and made his way to one of the nearby caves. Safe in the shelter, he looked at the shore. It didn’t take long for the enormous beast to show up from behind the trees. It had several tails that looked like giant snakes. Around the beast hovered a hawk making high-pitched shouts. A second – and one of the tails hit the bird. It flew through the sky in the direction of the ocean and – Tamatoa couldn’t believe it – fell apart. Now a human and… some interesting object that flashed in the sunlight were falling into the sea.

Tamatoa hid his findings in the cave and carefully left the shelter to swim after the mysterious artifact. That was definitely something valuable, which meant Tamatoa at least had to take a look.

Reaching the place, he found the object easily – it was something that looked like a fishing hook. Its surface was covered with mysterious symbols. Yes, this positively was no trifle.

Happy with his discovery, the decapod hurried to pick the hook up and turned back to the cave, but suddenly he saw the treasure’s ex-owner. He was probably dead, so Tamatoa considered it safe enough to give in to curiosity. Having swum closer, he ran his eye over the human. He had never been so close to humans before. Grandma’d always scare him with gruesome stories about them and forbid him come near the human world. “They’ll put you into soup!” she’d say, and little Tamatoa hid into his shell scared seven bells. But in reality, these terrifying humans proved to be so… fragile.

Most of the man’s body was covered in elaborated patterns. Long, tangly dark hair was hiding his face. Tamatoa reached his claw out to put it back. The human had a round face, his nose and mouth were big, while the eyes were small under thick brows. “An interesting sample,” the crab thought.

He would’ve kept him, but if Tamatoa took him to his cave his grandma would probably eat her grandson along with the human. On the other hand… it was not necessary to bring him to his _Lalotai_ cave _._

Picking up the finding, Tamatoa headed back to the shore. It looked like the beast went away to destroy some other part of the island, so the crab went out of the water confidently. But he never made it to the cave. A fierce roar coming from the ocean rooted him to the spot. Apparently, the beast had been searching the water for the human, but in a wrong direction. And now it was coming back to the shore, spotting a new prey. And that was Tamatoa.

The crab tightened his claws. He had no idea what to do. Suddenly, the human shifted in his claw and began coughing out water. Tamatoa shouted scared out of his wits and dropped the man onto the sand.

The man hit the ground and let out a curse, but was back on his feet in a second, looking up at the crab. Tamatoa froze having no idea where to run – there was a giant beast at his one side and a biped crab soup lover at the other. Deciding  that his best move was fighting one menace by efforts of the other, he assumed as dignified air as he could and said:

“You’re welcome.”

The human frowned. “You… saved me?” he asked after a few seconds of silence. 

Tamatoa snorted. “Obviously. You fell into the ocean. I dived after you and saved your life. You can pay me back equally,” saying this, the crab pointed his claw behind his back. There was no more than a yard between them and the beast now.

No longer wasting time on conversations, the man stood in front of Tamatoa, shielding him from the beast. “I see you’ve fished out my hook,” he smiled, looking over his shoulder. “Thank you, I'm gonna need it now.”

“Your… hook?” Tamatoa didn’t expect being asked to give his second trophy away.

The man frowned. “You were saving me, not my hook, right?”

Hesitating for a moment, Tamatoa reluctantly held the hook out to the human. The man gripped it and swirled the hook in his hand. Exclaiming “ _Ii-ha-a_!”, he turned into a hawk.  

The bird sprinted into the sky. Getting right above the enemy, the hawk turned into a giant whale and let himself drop into the sea, ramming the beast.

Tamatoa hurried to his cave. Hiding in the shelter, he watched the human, bewitched by his speed, his swiftness and his ability to take just any form he wanted. The man was absolutely fearless.

He heard the beast roar again, and this time the sound was full of pain. One more minute – and it was swimming away from the island. The man stepped into the shore dragging a giant tale behind him.

“Crab?” he called out, looking around.

Tamatoa crawled deeper into the cave. This man caught his interest, but he was no fool. Waiting for the man to shrug his shoulders and go away with the beast’s tail atilt, Tamatoa left his shelter and went into the sea. The sun had set and now there were myriads of diamonds glimmering in the sky above his head. Tamatoa loved this time of the day in the human world. He wished he could stay just a while longer, but if he was away for too long… A cold shiver ran through his back. _The festival!_ Grandma was going to kill him.

 


	2. in which Tamatoa decides to make a move.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, yeah, I know my proper names are stupid, I've never had a good imagination for that (just look at my nickname). I'm sorry!

The hook fell into the sea. The moment it hit the water, its energy waved through the ocean, reaching the deepest waters.

It was the slightest change everyone in Lalotai was too busy to notice, but it made its way through the Realm of Monsters into the darkest cave of the Underworld. To the place only a few of the elderly remembered. It was here where one of the most powerful threats throughout the history of Lalotai – a witch named Tinihanga was once imprisoned.

The hook was once an instrument for her defeat and now, its energy left out of control, awakened the powers it long ago suppressed.  

The surface of the stone shaped like a big jellyfish started cracking. A few more minutes and the last pieces fell off drawn away by the stream.

Tinihanga shivered, coming back to her senses. _That_ energy. She knew it. Only one thing could make it.

The witch grinned. So she’ll be the one who wins after all. And she’ll take her revenge on all those misfits who were foolish enough to confront her. No one had even bothered to cover up the source of the energy. She knew exactly where to look.

* * *

 

There was an incredibly handy deepening in the human world cave - the one that Tamatoa proclaimed his own. It was hard to notice it without examining the cave thoroughly, and it was just perfect for keeping his collection safe. Since the last time his grandma lost him, she made it a routine to check his collection regularly just in case there were any human world objects there. So the crab had to find a new place to keep his beloved Upperworld findings.

Affectionately placing his new trophies with the others, Tamatoa moved a big flat stone to cover the deepening. Once the hiding place was safely shed, the crab leaned out of the cave to look around, but crawled back that instant: he was there again, the human with the magic hook. He often saw him here – sometimes accompanied by other (all too loud) humans, but mostly on his own. The man’s favourite hobby was fishing – well, _attempts_ to catch some fish, he’d never actually seen him succeed. Sometimes the human came here to make some weird-looking gismos of sticks and leaves, or was just sitting there on the sand looking at the horizon.

It looked like today was fishing day again. Settling on his favourite fishing place – apparently, the human considered it the most advantageous on the shore, though the crab knew it was unlikely for him to fish out anything from there. Well, anything edible, that’s for sure.

But there was something in him Tamatoa was even envious about. The man could take any shape and go anywhere he wanted and collect so many interesting things... And _coconuts_. Tamatoa found one the other day. It was the most delicious thing he’d ever tasted.

And also – it was hard for him to admit, but with an increasing frequency, he was finding himself waiting for the human to show up. The man caught his interest the day they met, fighting fearlessly with the beast and defeating it. But the most endearing thing about the human was his stubbornness. He came here almost daily, and sat, staring at his fishing rod _for hours_. Once he even caught a tiny fish – his only accomplishment so far. He even tried to catch something by turning into a shark and a pelican, but all to no purpose.

Suddenly, the man jumped on his feet – it looked like something took the bait. Tamatoa shifted a curious glance to the water. The human pulled the rod and- drew out a clot of seaweed. Utterly frustrated, he kicked the sand with his foot and went away from the shore. The crab chuckled.

The next evening the human came back to the shore and, approaching his usual fishing place, discovered a net full of fish that’d come out of nowhere.

* * *

  
He decided to take a chance after all. Tamatoa prepared himself with extra elaboration, picking best colour matches and finest jewelry he had, thinking through each move he was going to make. 

When the human finally showed up at the shore, Tamatoa left his cave. He’d settled on pink and golden patterns of fluorescent paint, to look even more astounding after the sunset. The man had plenty patterns on his own skin, so there was no doubt the human'd dig it. Tamatoa also decorated his shell with a spiral row of gems. Now they were catching the sunlight and reflecting it in golden blazing with each movement he was making.

The man noticed him almost right off and jerked to face the giant sparkling creature, instantly on his feet and with the hook atilt, ready for the fight.

“I come in peace” Tamatoa said, both his raised claws dazzling in the sunlight as if made of gold. 

The human squinted, trying to see what there was under all those harsh colours and glowing. After a few moments, his alert expression gave way to recognition. Tamatoa approached him, all kingly and chivalric air.

“We haven’t had a chance to get to know each other since I… rescued you, human.” In his imagination, Tamatoa was now like a majestic warrior in a shining outfit. No doubt, the man had been stunned by his glory.

The human screened his eyes with his palm, tears in his eyes because of all the dazzling brightness. “I thought we were even,” he said, sitting back onto the sand. “What do you want, crab?”

The response was different from what he had expected. “I…” Tamatoa cleared his throat. “Have been watching you.”

The man raised his eyebrow. Alright, that probably was not the best confession to begin a conversation.

“I like to walk here… nearby,” Tamatoa tried to explain himself. “And I’ve seen your fishing trials- I mean, attempts.”

The man frowned. “So what?”

The crab swallowed. It all went so very, very off course. Having no idea why he'd even decided to come to him in the first place, Tamatoa turned to go. But making a few steps away, he realized he just couldn’t let it go like this. “I can teach you,” he said turning back again, wide smile beaming on his face.

The frown on the human’s face got even deeper. “I don’t think some crab can be better at it than a demigod.”

 _“Demigod, huh?..”_ Tamatoa thought. Now, that was interesting. “Try me” he said aloud.

The man rolled his eyes. “Daze me.”

Tamatoa delved under his shell and elicited a small shiny leaf-shaped plate from out there. It had a tiny hole at the top, perfect for setting the lure on a fishing rod cord.

“Try this,” he held the plate out to the human. “Fish chase anything that glitters.”

Hesitating for a moment, the human took the lure and tied it where the crab pointed. “Now what?”

“Now,” Tamatoa gave him a wide grin and went into the water, waving the demigod to climb on his shell. “We’re gonna do some swimming.”

Having swum far enough from the island, the decapod stopped. “We’ve never been introduced. I’m Tamatoa.”

“Maui,” echoed the man, deeply confused.

“ _Maui, the demigod_ ,” repeated the crab quietly, smiling to himself.

A few hours in the ocean produced their results. With Tamatoa’s active assistance, Maui succeeded in catching a few middle-sized fish. To say that he was happy about it was to say nothing, as it was the biggest progress in fishing he'd had in his entire life. Tamatoa, too, had something to be happy about – he found common ground with the man surprisingly easily.

“… and so I drank from her gourd and finally managed to lift the Sky,” Maui was telling his story enthusiastically while pointing at one of his tattoos. “I lifted it over the mountains with my two thumbs so people could walk on the ground upright, and the birds could fly over the ocean-”*

 _“Tamatoa!”_ they heard suddenly.

The crab flinched, nearly dropping Maui into the ocean. This was the _“Tamatoa”_ that he knew all too well. He turned around to meet Rongonui’s furious gaze.

“… oh, hello, Rongonui."

Oh, the ray was enraged. So much that Tamatoa felt the water become electrified.

“Your excuse?”

“I…” Tamatoa hesitated. “Was taking a walk.”

At that very moment, Maui managed to recover the balance and was back on his feet, looking at the ray over the crab’s shell. “Who’s that, your nanny?”

The ray sprang back, staring at the man. “Is that… Is that _a human_?!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * the information was taken from here https://mauikayakadventures.com/maui/legends-of-maui/


	3. in which everyone is happy with what he gets.

“So… How are you going to explain yourself?” Huatau looked at him severely with her claws crossed at her chest. “What the… _What_ were you doing in the Upperworld?”

“If I tell you, you won’t like it,” Tamatoa frowned.

“Oh, I should have known! I knew _something_ was not right!” she ranted, pacing about the cave. “And a _human!_ Do you even have an idea of _what_ he could have done to you?”

“He saved me,” Tamatoa countered. “And we were having quite a good time together until Rongonui-”

_“Humans are dangerous!”_

_“But I like him!”_

His grandma fell into a chair, claw at her heart.

“You don’t mean what you’ve just said”, she whispered in a trembling voice, obviously overacting.

The decapod decided to hold his ground. “Yes, I _do_ mean it, grandma. I… I am in love with him!” only saying this, Tamatoa realized how true his words were. “And I don’t care what _you_ think of it.”

He was a grown-up crab and could take his own decisions. He was the one to decide where and who he could spend his time with. But his grandma had a different opinion. And the most unpleasant thing about this fact was that she had enough power to limit his moving within the borders of the Underworld.

“In that case… You are grounded. Each guardian will get directions to keep Lalotai's gates closed for you”.

“But, grandma…”

“One more word – and you are not leaving _your cave_ until I see you’ve learned the lesson.”

Saying this, Huatau left. In epicene fury, Tamatoa punched one of the giant pearls from his collection, leaving a crack on it.

* * *

He was allowed to leave his cave without Rongonui’s escort a week after that. But guardians kept straining and looking warily at him when Tamatoa was passing by. No one wanted problems with Huatau.

So there he was, despondently wending his way across one of the cavities in the ocean part of the Underworld. There was absolutely nothing interesting about the landscape or the sandy bottom he was strolling through – nothing he hadn’t seen a thousand times before. Not a single rarity for his collection.

His thoughts returned to Maui. He thought a lot about him recently, the demigod wouldn’t leave Tamatoa’s mind. The crab was thinking about that little moment they had together, over and over regretting that he hadn’t come to him earlier.

Suddenly something swam by him, grazing one of Tamatoa’s legs.

“ _There is-s a way to help you_ …” the words were so quiet it took him a few moments to find the eel they belonged to. 

“Excuse me?”

“ _S-she can help you_ … _to get your human_...”

“How do you…” Tamatoa started, but the eel didn’t wait for him to finish the sentence.

“ _F-follow me…_ ” he said, swimming away.

Hesitating a moment, the crab went after the eel.

Where he led him was one of the most distant and deserted corners of Lalotai. Tamatoa had been here before. And he knew for sure that here, too, was nothing curious to find. No one even lived here. But then there opened an underground corridor he didn’t even have a clue about.

The tunnel led them out into a large cave. Tamatoa’s mouth hung open in a surprise when he looked around. He’d never expect to discover an apartment like this in such a district.

“Welcome,” the cold voice came from the depth of the cave.

* * *

“Ok, hold on a second,” Tamatoa settled on a low sofa and looked up at the jellyfish. “So you’re saying… You can arrange it so that I can spend as much time in the Upperworld as I wish, and no one would notice… but you’ll take my voice in exchange?”

“In the Upperworld, with all its… treasures,” Tinihanga added in a soft, sleeky voice.

“And…” it was clear now that the jellyfish was nutcase. “ _How_ are you planning to do that? And why my voice?”

The jellyfish gave him a sweet smile.

“That’s not your problem, dear. The important thing is – you’ll get what you want and everybody’ll be… happy with what they have.”

“Grandma wants me to become _a star_ ,” saying the last word, Tamatoa rolled his eyes. “Without my voice, how can I-”

“But do _you_ really want this?”

Tamatoa didn’t reply. Deep in his thoughts, he studied the cave. It seemed strange he hadn’t known about this place before. Up until today, the crab was sure this district was abandoned long ago. Just as he was sure the passage under the rocks the eel led him through had a blind end.  

But there was a cave, and it was surprisingly spacious. Hundreds of vials of all sizes and shapes stood in rows on the shelves along the walls; dim lights were playing in them, filling the room with colourful gleaming. There were so many rarities here it made Tamatoa dizzy. He kept wondering where the jellyfish got all those things.

“And besides…” Tinihanga interrupted his flow of thoughts and carried a small transparent sphere to his face.

The decapod saw a picture starting to form out of fog inside the sphere. He recognized Maui even before his figure got a clear shape.

“You’ll be free to… spend as much time with the object of your interest as you wish,” the jellyfish grinned, understanding she hit the target.

* * *

 

Tamatoa blinked and squinted, the bright sun forcing tears out of his eyes. The last thing he remembered was a cloud of purple gas wrapping him in Tinihanga’s cave and the witch’s chilling laugh.  His head was splitting. He probably shouldn’t have trusted the jellyfish after all.

He raised himself on his elbows with a wince and… wait. Elbows? In the deepest horror, he looked over his own body. And it was not _, not_ his body at all. Human! The witch turned him into _a human!_ He opened his mouth to scream, but never got a single sound out. That damned jellyfish took his voice and in exchange for… _what has she done?!_

“Are you alright?”

Tamatoa flinched and jerked his head up to meet Maui’s eyes.

 _“Do I look like I’m alright?”_ he tried to crack back, but no sound left his throat. Tamatoa raised on his feet carefully, but lost his balance and would have fallen back on the sand if not for Maui catching his elbow. _How do they make it with two legs only?!_

The demigod scratched his head.

“You are not from here.”

  _Oh really?_ Tamatoa ground his teeth.

“But…” Maui looked puzzled. Something about the stranger seemed vaguely familiar. He had quite a distinguished appearance: dark bronze skin and curly hair just as long and brown as most of the villagers had. But his eyes were bizarre. Bluish-green with visibly different-sized pupils. Maui also noticed a small gap between the man’s front teeth when he opened his mouth. His features seemed so familiar… But he couldn’t recall where he could’ve seen this man before.

“Have we met before?” he asked, looking the stranger over.

Tamatoa nodded energetically.

“We have?”

Tamatoa gave him another nod.

“… are you mute?”

Tamatoa froze for a moment and then nodded slowly once more. Yes. He was mute now.

“What happened to…” the demigod began but stopped short realizing the man wouldn’t be able to answer him. “Maybe you are relative to someone from the village. Come, I’ll help you walk.”

Hesitating a moment, Tamatoa tried to make a step and tightened his grip on Maui’s arm not to lose his balance again.


	4. with crab-style flirting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * I tried to google what coconut crabs do to get their partners' attention, but I failed. So instead I took fiddler crabs' seduction technique: "When noticing a potential partner, male Uca mjoebergi starts shaking his claw with high intensity, trying to catch the female's attention" https://www.sunhome.ru/journal/126935 (Zoology time: the source is in Rusian, but there is a funny information that other male crabs, seeing a crab shaking his claw, start doing the same even if they don't see the female yet x) )
> 
> ** I've also run into information about the special meaning of flowers worn behind the ear in Polynesian (and Hawaiian) cultures (though, I'm not an expert and could have gotten it all wrong. Please, forgive me if I misunderstood the idea, but let's accept this information as true for this fanfiction). What I learned is: if you wear a flower behind your left ear - you are taken or just not interested in any relationship; behind your right - you are open for a relationship; but if you wear many flowers on your head (like in a chaplet) - you are kinda... desperate to get one. http://www.doublebrush.com/2007/07/whats-your-sign.html
> 
> (I've actually looked through more sources, these are just examples x) )

No one had a clue who the stranger was and how he’d ended up lying unconscious on the island shore. Tamatoa tried to tell his story by pointing to the ground and to the sea, grimacing and making monster faces, but only puzzling the villagers even more.

Nevertheless, they accepted the “unusual” man more than warmly: humans proved to be nothing like the Underworlders thought they were. Grandma would tell him dozens of spooky stories about humankind, but the people surrounding Tamatoa now were not at all like those bloodthirsty creatures from his granny's tales. In fact, they were the complete opposite to that: each one of them would gladly help him with what they could, one of the families offered Tamatoa their hut to sleep in and shared food with him; Iwi and Kaheru - a guy and a girl who'd been friends since childhood - took a special fancy to him and accepted Tamatoa to their company. They told him a lot about the island and its inhabitants. They also showed him a lovely bay where Tamatoa found hundreds of flashy little items for his collection. They didn’t even lay claim to his findings; moreover, when learning how much he loved those shiny thingies, they gifted him some of their own jewelry.

Of course, there were people who looked warily at him – some of them even showed open displeasing to the stranger with weird, “demonic” eyes. But it was Maui who brought him to the village. Tamatoa had his trust, and the demigod’s protection was more than enough for most of the villagers.

Tamatoa’s shore cave was now fully fit up for his collection. The only missing thing for this place to become entirely “his” was luminescent paint – specific substance extracted from Lalotai’s unique underwater flowers. 

Tamatoa took a liking of his new home surprisingly quickly: he had always been drawn to the Upperworld. He soon got used to his new form – even as a human, he looked _fabulous_.

But he could feel the ocean calling him. Besides, nothing could justify Tinihanga’s tricks. And Tamatoa was going to find a way to get back to Lalotai and make her carry out her pledge _properly_. But this could wait. Right now, he could focus on another goal of his – Maui. The new state of affairs had its advantages: now human, he could spend _days_ by the demigod’s side. Also, it had occurred to him that Maui would probably feel more comfortable with someone of his own kind in certain… circumstances.

* * *

Tamatoa learned Maui’s habits long before the witch turned him into a human. He had no doubt where he could find the object of his interest.  
Letting Iwi and Kaheru know he wanted to take a walk by himself, Tamatoa headed to the shore where he used to watch the demigod so often. Maui was there – but he wasn’t sitting at his fishing place, cheerlessly staring at the fishing rod, as Tamatoa expected him to be. Instead, he was setting up something… curious. There were a few logs lying at his feet, tied together; at the center of the construction there was another log standing upright with some ropes attached, and the demigod was busy adjusting some sort of a canvas to it.

Tamatoa approached him, looking curiously at the installation. Maui looked up.

“Hey,” he smiled.

Finishing the last knot, the demigod took a few steps back, hands on his hips, and looked at his work, obviously proud of himself. 

“Want to come with me? I am going to fish _in the ocean_ ,” the last words were spoken with special emphasis as if Maui expected Tamatoa to be utterly impressed.

Tamatoa gave a soundless laugh. He regretted it that instant: Maui seemed quite confused and hurt with such reaction. Tamatoa flourished his hands, showing him it was alright and trying his best to express his excitement about the idea. He picked up the fishing rod – with a shiny lure on it – and held it out to the demigod. Maui’s face softened. He beckoned the man with his hand and pushed the float into the sea.    

They only got two medium-sized fish, but Maui was clearly satisfied with the result. Deciding to have supper right there at the shore, Maui left Tamatoa to make a fire. He came back half an hour later, carrying a few heavy coconuts in his hands.

“You seem to like these,” he smiled at the man and smashed one coconut against another to crack the shells. Tamatoa beamed with joy.

He noticed a big pink flower behind the demigod’s right ear. Now, that was new. Tamatoa never saw Maui wearing any adornments. Though, it was a good decision for the demigod to finally do it.

The sun hid beyond the horizon, giving way to the stars and the moon. It got a little cooler, but the heat of the cracking fire didn't let them freeze. They looked at one another over the flame, waiting for the dinner to get ready. The moment was perfect. Unfortunately, Tamatoa had no idea about human world customs on such matters, so he didn’t have a clue how to inform Maui about his intentions.

Before transformation, his left claw was a bit bigger in size than his right. His hands were symmetrical, but he decided to do it with the left one anyway.

Drawing closer to the demigod, Tamatoa raised his hand in front of Maui’s face and started shaking it intensively. *

“Are you… whisking the mosquitoes away of me?” the demigod raised his eyebrow.

Tamatoa stopped for a second. He shook his head and began to roil his hand even more fiercely.

Maui looked at him with a question. Clearly, he didn’t get it at all. Tamatoa sighed heavily, putting his hand away. How on earth did humans attract their partners without claws?

* * *

“Wow,” Iwi gave a cheerful whistle. “You put the best foot forward, don’t you?”

Kaheru pursed her lips in a false offense. “Would be none the worse for you, you know,” she said, adjusting her flower chaplet on her head.**

“All I need is here within reach of my hand,” the young man grinned, playfully putting his arm around Tamatoa’s shoulders and brushed his fingers along the man’s collarbone. “That is if our friend is free tonight…”

Tamatoa shifted blank stare from him to Kaheru.

The girl laughed, perching between them. “Don’t fall for his tricks,” she said to Tamatoa, making Iwi get his hands off the man. “Especially if you want a _committed_ relationship”.

Iwi snorted. “Says the girl with _a chaplet_ on her head. Besides, I’ve never seen him wear a single flower in his hair. Maybe he is not into relationship _at all_ ”. 

Completely perplexed, Tamatoa slipped a flower from the bush at his left and looked at Iwi with a question in his eyes. _Flowers?_  

“You…” Iwi looked just as puzzled. “… don’t know?”

The man tilted his head.

“You’re weird,” Kaheru said for the nth time, but there was no spite in the girl’s voice.

It turned out that in the human world flowers were not just an adornment, as Tamatoa thought they were. He did use them for necklaces and for clothing finery, but thankfully, he had not tried them for a hairdo. Now Iwi opened his eyes to their true meaning.

“… and Kaheru here, as you can see, has made an entire chaplet out of them,” Iwi snorted again. “So she is _playing for keeps_ if you know what I mean.”

Deep in his thoughts, Tamatoa listened to his friend’s explanations, playing with the flower in his fingers. And then, all of a sudden, he remembered his fishing evening with Maui. That night, the demigod came back to him wearing a flower behind his right ear. Which, according to Iwi, only meant… Tamatoa would’ve screamed with joy if he could. Springing to his feet, he waved goodbye to his friends and hurried to his cave, picking the prettiest flowers he saw on his way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And as a little extra, I'd love to share my Mauatoa drawings with you <3  
> 1) My first drawing of this couple. It was drawn for a calendar, so I was actually looking at it while writing this fic: https://78.media.tumblr.com/2090e44bcb9b8968d7e7346497d0ac0a/tumblr_p1igw2tRXF1t1tb4co7_r1_1280.jpg
> 
> 2) This one is my latest Tamatoa humanization, drawn after I finished the fic (he doesn't have tattoos in this work, at least at this stage. Nor he has a pierced nipple, though I think its really hot on him x) ):  
> https://mags-arts.tumblr.com/post/175852850063/humanized-tamatoa-and-his-hot-pierced-nipple-3
> 
> 3) Warning: mature content (drawn on request, and one of my best drawings yet):   
> Cut (more beautiful) version: https://69.media.tumblr.com/769d634aed47fc3e8c62223ca26e6c5c/tumblr_phq4n5ycQp1xkvpe2o1_500.jpg  
> Less cut version: https://78.media.tumblr.com/e9725aa2ceb6670f385c4e07d11c54bd/tumblr_p3o7goCbsi1t1tb4co1_540.jpg


	5. the one with a chaplet

Maui’s house was a bit aloof from other buildings. But at the same time, the whole village could be observed from the hill where it stood. Tamatoa found the demigod sitting on the bench by the entrance. Maui was making something out of branches and leaves absorbedly; he didn’t even notice his approach.

Adjusting his gorgeously-looking chaplet on his head, Tamatoa walked up the path to Maui’s hut. Beside the chaplet, he was wearing a few simplistic, but elegant bracelets on his wrists and ankles, and also a pendant with that very iridescent stone he found at the shore on the day they first met, and it all made him look _fabulous_.

Maui noticed someone climbing up to his house out of the corner of his eye and looked up, opening his mouth in surprise the moment he saw the guest. A beaming smile on his face, the man stepped closer to the demigod, blocking the sun. Tamatoa himself was now just as shiny as any celestial body.

There was a loud crack – the branch in Maui’s hands split in two – and then a short silence. Tamatoa lost his courage for a second – he found out how to show his intentions, but he didn’t have a single idea of what humans did next. Not knowing what else to do, he shook his hand in front of the demigod’s face, just in case.

“You…” Maui finally found his tongue, raising on his feet. “You came... to me?”

Saying this aloud, the demigod nearly slapped himself on the forehead for the stupidity of the question. Of course the man came to him. He was the only one living here.  

Tamatoa nodded energetically – probably even too energetically. Before long, Maui will decide he has some sort of a nervous disorder. Without any clue what he was doing, Tamatoa took the demigod’s palm and put it over the chaplet on his head.

Maui swallowed heavily. At last, he seemed to have caught up. Hesitatingly, the demigod dropped his hand from Tamatoa’s head to the small of the man’s back, looking into his eyes with a question. Tamatoa smiled, reflecting the demigod’s gesture just in case. It suddenly got hard to breathe.

“You’re so… unusual”, Maui noticed with a slight huskiness in his voice.  

Tamatoa frowned. _So he didn’t get it after all._

“I mean,” the demigod hurried to excuse himself. “You’re… incredible”.

The man looked up at Maui with a new smile and took another step, standing skin-to-skin with the demigod, who definitely was to teach him _a lot_ today.

Tamatoa didn’t have to give any more hints. Maui pulled the man tight to himself and buried his fingers in his hair, gently pulling it down a bit so that Tamatoa bent his head back for a kiss. The man clenched his fingers on the demigod’s back and closed his eyes following Maui’s example. He couldn’t believe it was finally happening.

Maui’s fingers trailed down his spine, making Tamatoa shiver and lose his breath once again. Feeling the demigod’s hand clench at his loin, the man exhaled heavily, feeling his legs go limp. The start was pretty good.

But in a few seconds, Maui pulled away. Confused and disappointed, Tamatoa looked up. _Is something wrong?_

Maui gave him a silent smile, leading the man into the hut. 

* * *

Tamatoa was lying on Maui’s chest, trailing his finger along the tattooed lines on his lover’s skin. The demigod was still asleep. He didn’t want to wake him up, listening to Maui’s smooth breathing and enjoying the moment. They hardly left the hut during the last two days, not breaking apart except perhaps for dinnertime. Tamatoa didn’t remember spending so much time indoors, he’d always prefer going to some new place to look for some new things for his collection. But with Maui by his side, he didn’t mind spending days at home – they had enough activities for spending leisure now.

The man propped himself up on his elbow, taking in the sight of the sleeping demigod. Maui might not have seemed too handsome to him when they first met, but the face and the body Tamatoa was looking at now were more appealing than any treasure he’d ever seen. The man dropped his gaze at the demigod’s chest. The tangled patterns on his skin were work of art, each picture telling its own, special story about Maui’s heroic deeds and adventures, his history… And so the light came on. Drawings!

Tamatoa shook Maui’s shoulder, waking him up. The demigod grumbled, pulling the man closer to himself and forcing him to lay down. His heavy hand was now blocking Tamatoa’s attempts to get up. There was a number of downsides of being smaller. With great effort, he managed to free himself and started shaking the demigod again.  

Maui mumbled, finally opening one of his eyes. Tamatoa pulled his hand, trying to make him get up. The demigod sat up on the bed, frowning at the man. “What happened?”

Tamatoa rose on his feet, still holding Maui’s hand, and pulled him out of the hut. Getting outside, he picked up a twig from the ground and tried to draw himself as a crab. It didn’t go very legible, though. Maui tilted his head, looking at the drawing. Tamatoa tried once again, now expressing another idea.

“A… crab claw?” asked Maui hesitatingly.

Tamatoa gave him an eager nod and pointed – first at the drawing, then at himself.

“You want a crab claw? Seriously, _right now_?”

Tamatoa put his palm to his face. Maui was gorgeous in many ways, but so… slow to see the point at times. He tried again, now tracing a few sticks and a circle symbolizing a human on the sand. The demigod got this one. Tamatoa pointed at the new drawing and dabbed at Maui’s chest.

“I’m a human,” he unraveled.

Tamatoa nodded, tiptoeing to kiss the demigod on the cheek in joy. Then he pointed at the claw and at himself again.

“You’re a crab claw?” Maui asked carefully.

Tamatoa made a face and tried once again. He drew a body to the claw, doing his best to make it resemble a crab. Finishing the picture, he looked pleadingly at the demigod.

“You’re… a crab?..” Maui suggested, obviously wondering if he was still asleep.

The man nodded eagerly. Then he drew a human with a fishing rod standing on the crab’s back and dabbed at the demigod’s chest again.

Maui looked at him and then at the picture, having no idea what his lover wanted from him. He on a crab’s back, with a fishing rod… And then it came to him.

The demigod shifted his gaze at the man again. “Tamatoa?” he asked uncertainly.

Tamatoa waved his hand as if in a greeting. Maui slowly sat down on the bench. 

* * *

It was not easy, but somehow Tamatoa managed to tell Maui his story. The demigod was sitting quietly for a while after he finished, thinking the information over. Then he silently raised on his feet and went inside, coming back with his hook atilt. “We’re going to Lalotai.”

All the way to the Realm of Monsters Maui was deep in his thoughts. Tamatoa felt the demigod went distant from him, and now he regretted sharing his story. But it was true – he belonged to a different world, and no spell could change that. It didn’t occur to Tamatoa when he was enjoying his moments with Maui, but now these moments seemed to become history. He sat by the demigod’s side, putting his hand over Maui’s, but it seemed like his lover didn’t even notice the gesture. 

* * *

 

Tamatoa had never used this portal before. The gates were at the top of a cliff in the middle of the ocean. He nearly slipped down several times while trying to climb it before Maui finally had mercy and turned into an enormous hawk, offering the man to climb on his back.

Using the portal was risky – they could’ve ended up in the middle of the underwater part of Lalotai – but it was their lucky day: not only it led to the dry part of the Underworld, it also happened to be located just not far from Tamatoa’s cave. And what’s most important – he could breathe here.

But something about the place didn’t seem right. Everything was just the same as he remembered: the square where the portal dropped them was a spacious garden full of wondrous plants of different shapes and colours. The dwellers decorated their caves, holts, nests and huts each in their own fashion; the place speckled with colours and glimmered with lights. But one detail was missing: the dwellers themselves were gone. The square was deserted. 


	6. in which Tamatoa gets his voice back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I'm so, so sorry for not posting anything in such a long period of time TT I just have so much work and studying and other art ideas to do... So yes, it will be slow, sorry for that( But there are only three chapters left! I hope to finish it before New Year.

“Nice place… you have here”, said Maui looking around the cave.

 _“Nice place?”_ Tamatoa pulled a face. His residence was a _masterpiece_. But he didn’t have the energy to think of a way to show his teeth right now. Tamatoa’s house was situated in the most active and bustling area of Lalotai – and it was _deserted_ now, which he was getting increasingly concerned about.

He gestured Maui to follow him and led the demigod to the Border. When they reached the place, the Hero of Men and Women froze, his mouth open.

The border between Land and Sea was different from the one of the Human world. In Lalotai islets of land – The Gardens of Monsters – were underwater, barriered from the water by what seemed to be invisible domes. The view from the very edge of the land was the most impressive. Through the wall of water they could see corals, seaweed and flowers of all colours, and outlines of underwater houses and caves decorated in just as charmingly bizarre manner as those on land. Rows of bright motley pennants and garlands waved in the streams, fairy lights deflected, colouring the water with reflections. But not a soul here either. It gave Tamatoa creeps.

Maui reached out to touch the water surface. In a second he cried out in surprise, jerking back, but something kept the hold on his wrist and dragged him into the ocean. Tamatoa lost the plot. He saw the demigod’s body shake with electric zap. Losing his consciousness, Maui relaxed his grip on the hook. A second later the source of all Tamatoa’s latest troubles materialized out of thin water: Tinihanga was floating by Maui’s side, his hook in her arm, and a grin on her face. She swam towards the border with the land and… shapeshifted into Tamatoa. She copied every single detail of his appearance, and she didn’t even use the hook for that. Giving him a wide grin, she stepped on the dry land an spoke in his voice: “What a lovely surprise! I thought I’d have to do everything on my own.”

Tamatoa backed out, completely lost. “Your suitor was clueless about what this thing can really do, you know.” The witch swung the hook in her claw and tossed it on her shell.

Forgetting himself, Tamatoa opened his mouth but couldn’t make a sound.

Tinihanga chuckled.  “Oh, sure…You can take it, I don’t need it anymore.”  Saying this, she plucked a shell-shaped pendant off her neck and threw it to Tamatoa’s feet. The pendant hit the ground and cracked up, letting out heavy smoke that wrapped around the man.

 _“Not again…”_ was the only thing he had time to think of before blacking out.

* * *

 

The first thing Tamatoa saw when he opened his eyes was Maui’s anxious face. The second thing was his own claw.

“Are you alright?”

“Do I look alright?” Tamatoa muttered, wondering at the sound of his own voice.

The demigod helped the crab get to his feet. Tamatoa’s head was splitting – just like that day when the witch turned him into a human.

“You are…a crab,” Maui said quietly. Tamatoa hated the sound of disappointment in his voice. “So… mission complete?”

The decapod shook his head. Suddenly there was a loud crackling and something grabbed Tamatoa’s leg. “What the-” he exclaimed, trying to break free and looking back at the attacker.

“I got you, witch!” Rongonui shouted and let as strong electric discharge through his tail as he was even capable of creating being in the waterbubble outside the ocean. His plan was taking Tinihanga by surprise on land – sea monsters were significantly weaker outside their natural environment, and this gave him a slight chance to actually win.

Tamatoa couldn’t make a sound. His sight dimmed, he watched Maui jumping at Rongonui, the ray turning to fight him back… and all gone black once again.

* * *

 

“Who the heck are you?”

“I am Maui, The Greatest Demigod in all the Pacific Islands, Hero to All…”

Tamatoa moaned, coming to senses.

Both Maui and Rongonui went silent, switching their attention to him. The demigod looked worried. The ray, floating a few feet above the ground in a waterbubble, was all vigilance, ready to attack any second.

“Grandma…” Tamatoa wheezed in a weak voice. “Will eat you up for this.”

Rongonui visibly relaxed. “So it _is_ you after all.”

“Yeah… hard to believe for me either.” Tamatoa admitted, ding in his ears. “What happened? Where is everyone?”

“That’s… a long and unpleasant story.”

It turned out Tinihanga used the time when Tamatoa was away to take his form (and his voice) and get closer to Huatau. She found her way into the Council and took everyone by surprise. No one exposed deception till it was too late. But they didn’t give her the information she needed, so she cursed them, turning into stones – the same curse she once experienced herself. Then the panic started, most of the dwellers just fled in terror. Rongonui was one of the few who stayed, planning to fight the witch back, but he didn’t hear from anyone for quite a period of time and was fearing the worst.

When the ray finished his story, there was a short silence.

“And… how was she stopped last time?” Maui asked.

“By doing impossible,” Rongonui answered bitterly. “Lalotai collaborated with gods.”

The demigod scratched his head. “What’s so impossible about that?”

“Well, that kind of power requires a great mutual trust and our worlds… never had a good fellowship. Last time they were lucky. But it was not enough, as you can see.”

Maui and Tamatoa looked at one another. “Let’s say we have both the ingredients,” the crab intoned. “What’s next?”

“Next…” the ray replied looking suspiciously from one to another. “The Council used The Heart of Lalotai together with the relic of gods. But they took the Hook as soon as it was over, so…”

“You said _Hook_?” Maui broke in.

The ray frowned, irritated with the stranger’s lack of manners.

“I did,” he confirmed, not bothering to hide the disaffection in his voice.

“Like this?” the demigod asked, pointing at one of his tattoos.

Rongonui floated closer, looking at the image. It did have a resemblance to the one he saw on the walls in the Council. Slowly, the ray gave a nod.


	7. in which there is a battle.

Tamatoa and Maui stepped on a large stone plate. Wrapping his tail around the lever in the wall, Rongonui pulled. The plate came on the run, sinking down. A few seconds later dozens of underground corridors appeared in front of the crab and the demigod. Maui swung to the side and Tamatoa hastened to catch him. Restoring his balance, the hero of all tightened his grip on the decapod’s shell – a few extra pairs of legs could come in handy sometimes.

Tamatoa looked around. The secret passage astonished him no less than Maui. He had no idea about this place before – so many places unexplored…

The platform stopped abruptly, reaching the lower level. This time even the crab had difficulty with maintaining his foothold. He looked around, fearing to discover just another gillion of corridors as on the upper levels, but there was just a single, wide passage leading into the darkness.

“Well, it’s been… not that hard so far”, Tamatoa muttered.

Maui shivered, peering into the blackness ahead of them. But before they could make a step, the corridor lit with dim lights of hundreds of fires along the walls. “Such hospitality,” the demigod noted.

The corridor led them into a big, red-glowing hall. The glowing was coming from a dozen small stones – of identical shape, size and colour – that were embedded into the cave walls.

“So… how do we know which one of them is the real Heart?” Maui frowned, stepping forward carefully to take a closer look.

Tamatoa paused to think, walking along the walls and scrutinizing the stones.

“We’ll take the shiniest,” he finally replied.

The demigod raised his eyebrow. “But they all shine alike.”

The crab gave him a wide inscrutable grin and walked along the wall once more, stopping by one of the stones. “That’s what _you_ think,” he chuckled, stretching his claw out to the gem. Maui strained, stepping by the decapod’s side and preparing to fight possible threats that might activate if Tamatoa chose a wrong stone. But nothing happened. Pulling the Heart out of the wall, the crab hid it under his shell. “We can go back now.”

Maui looked at him, both surprised and entranced.

Before giving Rongonui a sign to pull them up, Tamatoa touched the demigod’s shoulder with his claw. “Maui,” he started awkwardly. “About… us…”

The demigod turned around to meet his eyes but looked away the next second. “I… like you, Tamatoa. Just as I said – you’re amazing, but… you belong here, and I…”

Tamatoa jerked his claw away as if Maui just slapped him. The demigod’s words hurt, but the realization of just how right he was excruciated.

The crab stepped on the platform. Maui followed him, down-hearted. Those were not the words he meant to say, but he didn’t know how to express his real feelings. He didn’t even have a clue what he _felt_ right now. 

* * *

They found Tinihanga in the Central Pit, which was located in the very centre of the oceanic part of Lalotai. Back in her jellyfish form, she was busy studying every inch of the walls. Tamatoa came into the light, carrying Rongonui tied up in a net on his shell. “Looking for something?” he called out.

The jellyfish flinched and turned around. “Came for more?”

Tamatoa chuckled. “You see, I’m here to offer you… a deal.”

The witch gave him a distrustful look. “What?”

The Decapod made a few steps towards her but didn’t take the risk to come too close. “I want to become human again. In return… I’ll help you.”

Tinihanga gave a laugh. “What made you think I need your help?”

Tamatoa got the net with the struggling ray off his shell. “A little fish told me you were looking for the Heart. And was silly enough to show me exactly where to find it.”

There was a sinister glare in Tinihanga’s eyes. “Go on.”

* * *

The plan was working perfectly. They lured the jellyfish on land, where she turned into a giant salamander. Tamatoa led her to a cay where Maui was waiting for them. Unable to make a water bubble, Rongonui started to suffocate. They needed to move fast. The ray expended his last energy on storing the electricity. Tamatoa quickened his pace, stepping closer to the witch, and gave Rongonui a signal. Reacting in a split second, the ray reached his tail out and zapped the witch, putting all he had into the electric wave. The shock made her lose her form, dropping the hook and turning back into a jellyfish. A second – and Tamatoa freed the ray, hurling the net onto the witch and blocking her movements. Breaking free, Rongonui formed a water bubble. Finally able to drive a breath, he picked up the hook with his tail and threw it over to Maui. “On the hilt,” he shouted.  

The demigod caught the hook and unwound the rope on its haft. There was a deepening, just the size of Lalotai Heart. “Now what?” he called.

“Last time monsters and gods combined their forces to defeat her” the ray explained. “We’ll have to do with _you_.”

Maui rolled his eyes. “Still the _best_ you can get.”

“Some tea for you two, maybe?” Tamatoa asked, distemper in his voice. The jellyfish was slowly gaining her consciousness back, and the crab didn’t fancy finding out what “the most terrible menace in the history of Lalotai” was capable of when angry.

“Sorry,” Maui smiled, coming closer to the crab. “May I ask for your claw and the Heart?”

Tamatoa pulled the gem out of his shell and gave it to the demigod, not saying a word. Maui took it and inserted the stone into the deepening on the hilt. Then he handed the hook over to the decapod. “We need to do it together.”

 _“You shouldn’t have…”_ the witch’s voice rang in Tamatoa’s head. _“…betrayed me. This human will never accept a monster like you.”_

“Now!” Maui yelled, gripping Tamatoa’s claw.

The symbols on the surface of the hook glowed red. In a second the space around them was blazing light. Then followed a thundering explosion. Hurled back by the blast, Tamatoa hit the rock and sank on the ground. The next thing he felt was hideous pain. Looking down, he realized he was missing a leg.

* * *

“At least we still have both the hook and the Heart,” Rongonui said in a gloomy voice, watching Maui bandaging what was left of Tamatoa’s leg. “And you are… tough. For a human.”

“I’m a demigod,” Maui flung off abstractedly. His attention was now focused on Tamatoa, catching every flinch on the crab’s face. “How… How are you?”

The decapod noticed slight trembling in the man’s voice. “Missing a leg,” he answered, not really understanding what Maui expected him to say.

Maui gave out a shaking breath, clutching his fingers tight on Tamatoa’s claw. His hands were so… small. In his human form, Tamatoa was hardly able to move under Maui’s weight, but now Maui was scarcely up his shell when standing upright.

The demigod shut his eyes, leaning his forehead against Tamatoa’s claw. “I’m so sorry.”

The crab gave him a bitter smile. “None of this would’ve happened, hadn’t I fallen in love with you”.

Rongonui choked on water in his bubble.

“Hadn’t you… _what_?” Maui jerked his head to look up at the decapod.

“Yeah, yeah, lovey-dovey…” Tamatoa rolled his eyes, assuming indifferent air. “Not that I could _tell_ you before. Anyway, none of that matters anymore. You were right, we don’t belong together.”

Maui kept silent for a while. Then he raised on his feet, picking up the hook. “Maybe that’s not such a huge problem.”

Tamatoa watched the demigod swirling the hook above his head. In a second, there stood an enormous brown crab with a spring-green shell, covered in dark patterns - stories of the demigod’s heroic deeds. And right at the centre of his shell, there was a new image – two crabs, reaching each other with their claws.

Rongonui watched them, opening his mouth to say something and shutting it again.

“Why…” the crab gasped out. “Why must you always be bigger than me?”

 


	8. in which they plant a tree.

“She must’ve been hit by just as strong blast,” Rongonui thought aloud. “I bet she couldn’t make it too far away.”

Even after taking a healing potion the ray gave to him, Tamatoa kept suffering from agonizing pain. He settled on Maui’s shell, shutting out thoughts of the consequences of another unsuccessful attempt.

“You must concentrate and… be in tune with each other.” Rongonui kept on his instructions. “The Monster World’s amulets, combined with those of gods’, open doors to hundreds of possibilities, but one more mistake can cost our _lives._ To do this right, you must become _one_.”

“How about turning her into a palm tree?” Maui broke in. “Then there’ll be some _use_ of her at last.”

Tamatoa gave a nervous laugh. “Even I wouldn’t eat her coconuts”

Just as Rongoui predicted, the jellyfish didn’t make it too far. The blast hit her, too – she was having obvious problems with spatial orientation. Nevertheless, she didn’t display any fear when seeing the enemies again.

“Are you sure you want to try this again?” she grinned, turning at them.

“Pretty much,” Maui responded, carefully letting Tamatoa get off his back and taking his human form once again.

Taking Tamatoa’s claw in his hand, the demigod pointed his hook at the witch.

“So… a palm tree?” the decapod asked.

“A palm tree,” Maui grinned. 

* * *

Both Maui and Tamatoa sank on the ground, exhausted. Rongonui floated to the spot where, just a minute ago, there was a witch. Now there stood a short blue palm tree with glassy leaves. “Well, she makes a nice tree,” the ray noted. “But you were right, I wouldn’t eat the coconuts.”

Maui followed the ray’s gaze. Under the palm’s leafage, there were a few unripe coconuts with weird, angry faces. The feeling that one of them looked directly at him gave the demigod creeps.

“Let’s just hope they don’t grow legs”.

* * *

Limping slightly, Tamatoa walked around the cave, painting the walls with fluorescent paint. He picked lime-green and yellow this time, adding highlights of sky-blue.

He was still missing a leg in his human form, but he got used to the gold-plate artificial leg he was now wearing. Besides, he'd made the prosthesis look fabulous and _shiny_ with all the sophisticated patterns and gems he used to decorate it. On his hips the man was wearing a waistcloth with banana tree leaves pattern Iwi'd made for him; several rows of necklaces of green and blue stones and shells were sparkling on his neck; and behind his left ear he was wearing a splendiferous, redolent hibiscus flower. The crab tattoo on his chest he’d made a while ago was still fresh coal-black on his bronze-tanned skin. He wore another tattoo on his arm – the one that appeared on his skin when he was using Maui’s hook for transformation.

Tamatoa made a few steps back, admiring his own artwork, but suddenly he bumped into something big and warm. He flinched in surprise, but Maui embraced him gently, snuggling him to his chest. “Hey,” the demigod exhaled hoarsely, burring his face in the man’s hair.

“I thought I asked you not to creep up from behind”, Tamatoa answered, relaxing in Maui’s hold.

“I thought you got used to having me behind”, the demigod chuckled, putting the man’s hair away from his neck and leaning to kiss his bare skin.

“…someone here is lacking just the same habit,” Tamatoa muttered, tilting his head to give Maui more space and letting the demigod press him gently against the wall.

“Want to fix this?” Maui purred.

“With great pleasure.”

Lifting his face up, the demigod kissed his lover lightly on the cheek. “I wish we had time for that.”

Tamatoa blinked and looked at him blankly.

“The concert,” Maui reminded.

Tamatoa flinched, releasing himself from the grip. “You should’ve said so in the first place!”

The demigod laughed. “It wouldn’t be so funny then”.

“It’ll come back and bite you later,” Tamatoa promised, but there was no anger in his voice. Running out of the cave, he transformed into his crab form and handed the hook over to Maui.

“Ready to spend a week with my grandma?”

The demigod swung his hook, turning into a giant decapod. “All too ready, darling. Besides, you promised me something… educational when we are finished.”

Tamatoa rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help a smile.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~ And they lived happily ever after ~


End file.
